Asian shares and the pound gained on Tuesday as investors held out hope that Britain still had a chance of avoiding a messy exit from the European Union at key negotiations this week.
Asian shares
- MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1%.
- Australian shares were up 0.17%.
- Japan’s Nikkei stock index was up 1.86%.
- The pan-region Euro Stoxx 50 futures rose 0.23% German DAX futures were 0.16% higher.
- FTSE futures were up 0.12%.
- U.S. stock futures (ESc1) rose 0.27% on Tuesday.
- Asia after the S&P 500 ended 0.14% lower.
Currency
- In the currency market, sterling rose 0.17% to $1.2632, approaching a three-month high of $1.2708.
- The pound (EURGBP=D3) also rose around 0.18% to 87.34 pence per euro.
- The yen , often considered a safe haven in times of economic uncertainty, held steady at 108.33 versus the dollar,
Commodities
- U.S. crude fell 0.71% to $53.21 per barrel following a 2% decline overnight due to worries that global energy demand will remain weak.
- Brent crude also fell 0.78% to $58.89 per barrel.